


Guilty pleasures

by whimsicalwombat



Category: The Blacklist (TV)
Genre: Gen, Samar is no different, everyone has an inner fangirl waiting to be released, it's probably not what you think
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-15
Updated: 2016-05-15
Packaged: 2018-06-08 13:14:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,618
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6856132
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whimsicalwombat/pseuds/whimsicalwombat
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Aram catches Samar watching something rather unexpected on her computer during work hours.</p><p>(And it's probably not what you think.)</p><p>One-shot, somewhere post 3x10 but before 3x18.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Guilty pleasures

**Author's Note:**

  * For [NamelesslyNightlock](https://archiveofourown.org/users/NamelesslyNightlock/gifts).



> Namelesslynightlock, this entire load of nonsense is your fault for giving me wild ideas.

Aram glanced up curiously from his workstation at the sound of Samar quietly trying to suppress a laugh.  He craned his neck around to look over his computers and across the few feet of thoroughfare between their desks, wondering what she was doing... But while also still trying to be subtle. 

She had her back to him, but Samar had a knack for knowing when people were watching her.  

It seemed as if while sitting at her desk, systematically going through files and catching up on status reports, Samar also had earphones in and something playing on her computer for the sake of having background noise instead of the quiet of the war room that was driving her crazy. Aram furrowed brow in confusion; it wasn't exactly an uncommon practice, and from the small sliver of her screen that he could see past her shoulder, it certainly looked as if what she was playing was some kind of music video on Youtube... _But then why was she laughing?_  

Or more accurately, intermittently biting her lip –or in more extreme moments, clasping a hand over her mouth- to try and _stop_ herself from laughing. 

Against his better judgement, Aram slowly rose from his desk to get a better look. It was definitely music, but it seemed to be a video of a live performance. His curiosity well and truly beyond his self-restraint at this point, Aram took a few steps away from his desk and towards Samar's without even thinking, and peered over her shoulder. The music video in question seemed to feature a trio of main performers; a singer with a hairline even more ridiculously high than Aram's own and styled into some kind of diagonal mohawk, a shirtless guitarist with war stripes painted on his face, and another guitarist in shorts whose hair was long enough to go past his shoulders, and whose guitar appeared to be covered in pink, green and yellow paint splatters. All three were dancing and jumping up and down, accompanied by a pair of possibly leather clad back up dancers, and screens at the back of the stage displaying multi-coloured, animated, dancing moustaches.  

It was quite possibly the most bizarre music performance Aram had ever seen. 

'What on earth...' He muttered under his breath. Samar jumped in her seat and spun around wildly as his voice rang in her ears, hurriedly pulling out her earphones. Clearly, she had been so engrossed in her multitasking that for once, she hadn't even noticed him standing there.    
'Aram, what are you doing?' She gasped. By which of course, she meant to ask how long –and _why_ \- he had been standing there, peeking over her shoulder.   
'Uhhh...' Aram stammered, suddenly realising he had in fact, crept up behind her far closer than intended. 'You kept laughing, I was curious...' Samar raised a particularly unimpressed eyebrow for a second, before letting out a small sigh. Aram's desk was directly behind her own, it wasn't as if she could watch anything that she desperately didn't want him to see. Or rather, she could, _technically_.. But that wouldn't be a smart idea. That said, peering over her shoulder probably wasn't Aram's finest move either.... Though he certainly looked sheepish enough that Samar figured he probably understood that already. Samar tilted her head, gesturing at the video now paused on her monitor.    
'Eurovision,' she relented, as if that explained everything. _Anything_ really, to keep it simple and casual, and hopefully mask the slight embarrassment that Samar sincerely hoped didn't have a blush creeping across her face. The absurd theatrics of Eurovision were a guilty pleasure that never ceased to amuse her, no matter how awful a day she'd had.  

...Not that Samar was even slightly partial to the idea of admitting that to _anyone_.  

Aram's brow furrowed in confusion again.   
'Eurovision?'   
'Yes, Aram,' Samar sighed, 'Eurovision.'   
'The song contest?'   
'Is there another Eurovision I don't know about?' Aram paused at her question, unsure how to answer her defensive tone. He had a vague idea what Eurovision was; the song contest that spanned the European continent and then some, with each country contributing one entry and then voting to decide the winner –but that was about as far as Aram's understanding went. He had certainly never watched it before. Aram instinctively took a step back, gesturing behind him with his thumb.   
'I'll uh, just go back over there then...' And off he scurried, back to his desk, while Samar pushed her earphones back into her ears and went back to what she was doing before the interruption.  

All of ten seconds passed before Aram poked his head up over his computers again.   
'Is Eurovision always that strange?' He piped up, cautiously eyeing the _still_ dancing moustaches. Samar's lip quirked up as she dropped the earphones back on her desk for good, and swivelled her chair around to face him.   
'Not _every_ song...' She explained, a touch of unease still lingering in her voice, 'some are actually quite good, but others are just ridiculous.' Samar smirked as she recalled a handful of especially ridiculous performances from the last couple of years, 'that's what makes it so funny.'    
'So, you don't actually take it seriously,' Aram observed, slowly nodding in understanding.   
'No, but I do try to watch the highlights every year, and sometimes I rewatch old ones.' Samar narrowed her eyes, momentarily suspicious. 'Have you seriously never watched Eurovision before?' Aram wordlessly shook his head in stunned disbelief at the revelation, before quickly reminding himself not to make too big a deal of it; Samar wasn't one to share personal details, let alone any she thought might be embarrassing... But each and every small detail he stumbled across was a valuable insight, that Aram filed carefully away in the back of his mind, and he was always eager for more. 'You should, at least once,' she finally added, a little more emphatically this time, and jolting Aram from his internal musings. He hesitated for a moment, so wanting to know, but not sure whether to ask;   
'What made _you_ watch it the first time?' If everyone supposedly had to watch Eurovision at least once, Aram was curious to know what on earth could have possibly managed to prompt Samar down that path. Samar's lip twitched as he voiced the question.   
'Israel competes, and I _do_ work for Mossad.'   
'Israel competes in Eurovision?' Samar simply shrugged.    
'It's complicated,' she said. Aram frowned in confusion for what was probably the umpteenth time by now, and Samar took that as her cue to continue; 'it's more about broadcast network boundaries than political or geographical ones, to put it simply anyway.' She paused, glancing away wistfully for a second. 'One of my old teammates was a fan, he still throws a party every year to watch the final.'

The confusion on Aram's face only intensified.   
'Wait, you don't go anymore?'   
'It's a bit tricky to go to a Eurovision party in Tel Aviv when I'm stationed in DC now,' she pointed out, and Aram instantly dropped his gaze; _that made sense_.   
'You should have your own Eurovision party here,' he suggested quietly. There was no reason she shouldn't, if she seemed to miss it that much. He hurriedly looked up again when Samar didn't respond straight away, and noted the wry smile on her face.   
'While I'd _love_ to educate you all on the finer points of pyrotechnics, convoluted wardrobe changes, and European politics being expressed in song voting blocs, Aram...' Samar deadpanned, before trailing off, 'I don't think that's the best team bonding exercise at the moment.' Watching Eurovision might have been _her_ guilty pleasure, but Samar sincerely doubted that forcing the team to endure endless hours of cheesy songs, garish theatrics and interpretive dance, was the best thing to bring them all back together after all the drama with the Cabal.   
'Why not? I'd come,' Aram shrugged as he thought about it. By contrast, Aram was all for _anything_ that might be so ridiculous, they would all overlook their differences in favour of sharing a laugh. 'Liz probably would too. Though, it's probably not Ressler's kind of thing.' Samar chuckled in agreement, at the visual of Ressler trying to watch the spectacle that was Eurovision, which was suddenly flashing before her eyes. With a small huff, she then glanced back wearily at the paperwork she had been doing for what felt like an eternity, knowing she should have been finishing it rather than talking about Eurovision, and Aram reluctantly resumed typing at his computer. Samar watched him for a second, wondering what he was doing as his face contorted in some twisted mix of delighted amusement and incredulous disbelief. 'Now what are you doing?' She asked warily. Aram paused before responding, not taking his eyes off whatever was on his screen.   
'...Did the Latvians _really_ sing about baking cakes in 2014?'    
'Yep,' Samar said, her tone somewhat nonchalant, 'and in 2013 the Greeks sang about free alcohol.' 

She turned in her seat to face her desk and go back to her paperwork once again, picking up her earphones and finally resuming the French entry of 2014 as she did so... All the while a small smile crossed her face at the knowledge that behind her, Aram was now rummaging in his desk drawers for his own earphones so that he could do the exact same thing. Settling back in his chair and intently taking in the spectacle in front of him, Aram failed to withhold a laugh at the idea of baking a cake being compared to the finding of Atlantis.  

Samar was right; he _really_ did need to watch Eurovision at least once.

**Author's Note:**

> I am a shameless Eurovision fangirl and yes, all three songs mentioned in this one-shot are completely and utterly real... And as Samar said, if you've never watched Eurovision before, you definitely should at least once!
> 
> Additionally, if you happen to be following either of my two long fics, the idea of Samar being a Eurovision fangirl is something I might follow up in one or both of them.


End file.
